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Saffron Buns
The first time I saw this recipe in Linda Collister and Anthony Blake's Country Breads of the World I nearly threw the book out the window. The recipe, called "Daniel's Saffron Bread," shows a 6 year old all decked out in an apron happily baking this Saffron Bread. "A six year old??? Baking with saffron?!? The stuff costs as much, by weight, as gold!!!" I thought. A month or so ago my mother-in-law returned from a trip to Portugal and brought me a souvenir: saffron. So I decided to try it. I have to admit, they are good. The recipe in the book includes a bit more butter and skips the initial rise. He also bakes it in a loaf pan, whereas I baked them as little buns. I was happy with the way mine turned out, so I'm posting the recipe my way.
Stir the saffron strands into the hot milk and set aside to infuse for half an hour at the minimum or as long as overnight (in the refrigerator). Combine the flour and salt in a mixing bowl. Cube the butter and cut it into the flour with a fork or a pastry cutter so that the mixture resembles course crumbs. Stir in the sugar. If using active dry yeast, heat a half cup of the milk to room temperature, then stir in the yeast and allow to activate for 10 minutes. Otherwise, add the instant yeast directly to the flour mixture and stir in all of the milk. Knead by hand for 6 to 8 minutes or in a stand mixer for 3 to 5 minutes. Add the dried fruit and knead some more until the fruit is distributed throughout the dough. Place the dough in an oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and set aside to rise at room temperature until doubled in size, roughly 45 minutes to 1 hour. Shape the rolls by hand and place on a baking sheet. Cover the baking sheet with plastic and set aside to rise another 45 minutes. In the meantime, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake the rolls at 350 for approximately 20 to 25 minutes, rotating the baking sheet once halfway through. The buns should be nicely brown.
Serve immediately.
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saffron
I grow Saffron here in Greta Valley, North Canterbury, New Zealand.
It is the most wonderful stuff.
If any one would like to purchase some (it is of course not cheap) I would happily sell some. I am not a commercial grower and do it for the fun (well hard work really)but I'm sure we can work something out. At the moment I have approx 30 grams worth avaliable,
I can be contacted on
Anthony Kingston
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Homegrown saffron
It's not terribly hard to grow your own saffron. The bulbs (fall-flowering crocus sativus) are shipped in late summer or early fall (about now in some zones) a couple of weeks before they bloom. You can find plenty of bulb sources online. While the bulbs are not cheap (a little less than buck a bulb, if you're buying small amounts), they do multiply and come back year after year if you treat them right. All you have to do is wait for the flower to bloom, then carefully pluck the long, red stamens, and dry them for a day or two by laying them out on a paper towel.
One big advantage: Saffron tastes better when it's fresher. Plus, the bragging rights are priceless.
P.S. Be sure you have the right crocus. There are other fall-blooming crocus that have six stamens. Those are poisonous. Sativus has three stamens per blossom.
"I am not a cook. But I am sorta cooky."
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my results
I made this recipe using halved dried bing cherries, and it turned out a dozen very nice rolls. The only comment I would have is that it smells/tastes a bit overly yeasty to me. I was wondering how it might turn out using a little bit less yeast. It seems like 2 1/2 tablespoons might be more than is necessary. Has anyone tried this with a smaller quantity of yeast?
ETA: I searched around and discovered what appears to be an error/typo in the original cookbook recipe. The amount of cake yeast they call for translates into about 2 1/4 teaspoons of dry yeast, not 2 1/2 tablespoons. One packet of dry yeast is 7g/.25 oz/2.25 tsp. (They may have intended to call for 2 1/2 teaspoons, but, either way, I don't think they meant tablespoons.) I'm going to try the recipe again using this smaller amount. Other than the yeasty taste, I really like the way this turned out.
Pat
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Saffron buns
I've found the foreign food aisle in my local grocery store to be full of wonderful surprises. The saffron in the usual baking aisle is about $15 and only $2.50 in the foreign food section. There are lots of spices in small bags at 2/$1 that have been fun to try. I had been hesitant to spend a lot of money on spices only to find out I didn't like them so this is a great find for me!
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Foreign food
Good find.
One of my favorite pastimes is to hit the various ethnic markets in town. Within 5 miles of my house or work I've found Thai, Chinese, Vietnamese, Japanese, Mexican, Russian, Ukranian, Georgian, Lebanese, and Ethiopian markets. The staples spices and ingredients are are *sooo* much cheaper in those stores than in the normal grocery store. I've also had really cool interactions with the shop owners and customers; they seem to appreciate having a white boy come in humbly, wanting to learn something about their culture and cuisine and trying to teach his kids to learn about other people's cultures, rather than coming in and saying "ew" or poking fun of it.
And don't even get me started on Bahn Mi and Pho. I don't think I could ever live again in a town without a couple of good Vietnamese restaurants... I'm getting hungry just thinking about it.
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Foreign Food - I'm a little off subject, but I must commend you.
Cultural diversity is fun when explored through the taste buds. They know nothing of politics, religion or prejudice. People are proud of their culture and love to share information. I commend you for taking this approach with your kids.
If you ever travel to Orlando Florida, finding a good Vietnamese restaraunt is a Nguyen - Nguyen (win-win) situation :) There is an area downtown informally called "Little Saigon", with several markets, restaraunts of all types of Asian establishments.
If you ever come, you can borrow my oven for a slice or two.
Happy new year,
Mike
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Your saffron buns are quite pale....
Hi Floydm,
just browsing through the recipes when i saw one of my favourites, saffron, on the list, but was surprised to see how pale your bun in the photo looked. Is that the real colour? Mine are usually a light or deep gold depending on whether I use 1/2 or 1 teaspoon of saffron. I get my saffron from an Iranian supermarket, very cheap, and it supposedly comes from there.
I first saw that recipe in that book, as well, and also immediately adapted it, often using 1 or 2 organic eggs for a really rich colour and taste, when I make Saffron Sunflowers, a specialty festival bread, studded with sultanas, for our hot Aussie Christmas.
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My pale buns
It has been a while since I made them, but my recollection was that they were fairly pale. Yes, using more saffron or some good eggs from grass-fed chickens would make them much richer looking.
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